Known commercial power mowers are generally divided into three separate categories: self-propelled walk-behind mowers, ride-on mowers operated by a seated occupant, and stand-on mowers operated by a standing occupant. Unfortunately, conventional ride-on and stand-on mowers often suffer from inefficient deck lift systems.
An object of this invention is to provide a power mower including an efficient deck lift system.
Another object of this invention is to provide a deck lift system which lifts an engine deck and a cutter deck together with one another, so that control arms utilized for positioning the deck can be designed to be shorter thereby enabling the deck assembly to be more resistant to negative impacts which may be caused by sideloads.
Another object of this invention is to provide a power mower where the operator is capable of standing or sitting during different modes of mower operation.
Yet another object of this invention is to satisfy or fulfill one or more of the above listed objects.
In certain example embodiments of this invention, one or more of the above-listed needs is/are satisfied by providing a power mower comprising:
a cutting deck;
at least one drive wheel;
an engine for driving at least one cutting blade;
a deck lift system for selectively raising and lowering the cutting deck, said deck lift system including:
a deck lift lever which when pulled causes a laterally oriented bar and a support to rotate about a common axis defined by an axis of said bar in order to lift said cutting deck;
a pivotal latch pivotally coupled to said support at a latch pivot axis;
a spring for biasing said pivotal latch relative to said support;
wherein said spring biases said pivotal latch in a first direction when a longitudinal axis of said spring is on a first side of said latch pivot axis, and said spring biases said pivotal latch in a second direction when the longitudinal axis of said spring is on a second different side of said latch pivot axis; and
wherein said longitudinal axis of said spring is switched from the first side of said latch pivot axis to the second different side of said latch pivot axis during raising of said cutting deck as said deck lift lever is pulled.
In certain embodiments of this invention, the deck lift system further includes a first projection and a second projection protruding from a surface of said support, and wherein when said spring is on the first side of said latch pivot axis said spring biases said pivotal latch in the first direction toward the first projection, and when said spring is on the second different side of said latch pivot axis said spring biases said pivotal latch in the second direction away from the first projection and toward the second projection.
In certain embodiments of this invention, pulling of the lever causes first, second, third, and fourth deck lift pull rods to moves toward a rear of the mower which in turn causes respective first, second, third and fourth deck lift arms to rotate and cause said cutting deck to be raised at four different locations.
Certain other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs by providing a power mower including a deck lift system, the deck lift system of the power mower comprising:
a deck lift lever for selectively raising and lowering the cutting deck; and
wherein pulling of the lever causes an elongated horizontally aligned bar to rotate which in turn causes first, second, third, and fourth elongated deck lift pull rods to move toward a rear of the mower which in turn causes respective first, second, third and fourth deck lift arms to rotate and cause the cutting deck to be raised at at least four different locations.